Strange Ways
by Artemis Day
Summary: Tucker and Sam have died, Valerie is devistated, Danny blames himself, can they find comfort in eachother? Or will the memories of they're dead lovers haunt them forever? DxS TxV DxV Oneshot, will not be adding to this.


**I know I said in my profile that I do not support Danny/Valerie, but I thought of this fic when I was listening to 'Lips of an angel' by Hinder (This won't be a songfic though) and I had to post it. This story begins from Valerie's POV, and ends in Danny's, all flashbacks are in italics, characters may seem a bit ooc. So please read and review and if it sucks, tell me, just be totally honest. **

The rain beat down on the streets of Amitypark like a shower of bullets. Twenty-three year old Valerie Gray pulled her hood up and shivered in the freezing cold. She didn't know for sure why she was going to his house, but for some reason, she really needed some company that night. Ever since the accident, it had been very quiet at her place. No longer were the hallways filled by the sound of his voice, or the beeping sounds of one of his many electronic devices. The very same sounds that she had once hated hearing and now couldn't live without. Tears began to form in her eyes as she thought back to all the happy times they had shared. In high school he would constantly hit on her, but she always turned him down, even after losing her popularity. She finally agreed to go out with him in they're junior year, not expecting to enjoy it. Surprise, surprise, it had ended up being one of the best nights of her life. She remembered it vividly.

"_Tucker Foliey where the hell are we going?" she yelled at him as he dragged her along upside the hill._

"_I told you" he said turning back toward her, "it's a surprise."_

"_Yeah, well I haven't seen it yet and I already don't like it, when I agreed to go out with you, you said we would just go to a movie or something, well guess what techno-geek, this is not a movie theater." She snapped angrily at his smiling face._

"_Well, trust me, you'll like this a lot better than some movie." He had responded._

_She sighed angrily as he continued to pull her further up. About halfway to the top, he had stopped, turned around, and pulled a blindfold out of his pocket. "Before we go any further, put this on." He said, in more of a demanding tone than a suggesting._

"_What are you nuts?" She almost shouted, "I am not going to put on a blindfold for you mister."_

"_Valerie, calm down, this is part of the surprise, please." He said and began to pout. She tried not to, but somehow, she ended up giving in._

"_Fine" she said. _

_Grinning widely, Tucker blindfolded her, took her by the arm, and once again began to lead her to the top. After about ten more minutes, they finally reached the top of the hill. "We made it." He said._

_Even though she couldn't see his face, she could tell from the tone of his voice that he was happy. She heard him approach her and felt his hands untying her blindfold. 'It's about time' she thought as it came of and she could see where they were. She gasped; it was the most beautiful place she had ever seen. From this hilltop, there was an amazing view of the sun setting over Amitypark and a picnic had been set up for them. It seemed clear to her that Tucker had wanted this to be special. "So, do you like it?' he asked her._

"_I…I…" she tried to say, but she was speechless. _

"_I'll take that as a yes." He laughed._

_They sat down together and ate and talked for what seemed like hours. She couldn't believe how easy to talk to he was, and he understood everything she told him. As they sat together and watched the sunset, she felt like she was in paradise. She had no idea that she could ever feel this way, especially around Tucker Foliey, but now she was seeing a different side to him, one that she never thought was even there._

They dated more after that day, but didn't officially become boyfriend/girlfriend until senior year. Danny and Sam where reluctant at first to be friends with Valerie, but eventually they warmed up to the idea. A few months after she and Tucker officially became a couple, Danny had revealed to her that he and Danny Phantom, the ghost she believed to have ruined her life and had sworn to destroy, were in fact one and the same. At first, she hadn't believed it, then she accepted it and stopped hunting him. After that they had worked together fighting ghosts. She and Tucker had known for a long time that Danny and Sam loved eachother, and when they finally became a couple a few months before senior prom, they weren't all to surprised, but then again no one really was. Once again she got lost in her memories of him, and thought back to senior prom.

_That night she had worn a night blue dress that complimented her curves, along with matching gloves and a small purse. She had been picked up by Danny and Tucker in a limo the two had worked months to rent. Sam was already there when they got her, wearing a black and dark purple dress and thick black eyeliner. Once a goth, always a goth apparently. They arrived twenty minutes later and spent the next few hours either talking by the punch bowl, or going onto the dance floor, mostly to get away from Dash and Paulina, who had been sitting to the sidelines making out for the past hour. Towards the end of the night Tucker had gone up to the DJ and whispered something in his ear while Valerie watched, confused. The DJ listened to him for a second then nodded his head and stopped the music. "Okay everyone." He said into the microphone as everyone began to look in his direction. "This song goes out to Valerie Grey from her man Tucker Foiley." Then the song 'Lady in red' by Chris DeBurgh began. Valerie gasped, this was the first song they had ever danced to together. That night she had, quite ironically, been wearing a red dress. As he walked back to her, she looked at him with tears of happiness running down her cheeks. He led her out to the dance floor and they began to dance. _

"_How did you remember?" she asked._

"_What, you actually thought I would forget our song? I know I'm not all that smart Valerie, but would never forget something like this." He responded._

_She smiled and put her head his chest, "Oh Tucker." She said softly, "I love you"_

"_I love you too Valerie." He whispered as they finished their dance._

That night, Valerie had realized that Tucker was the one that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. The boy she once teased mercilessly, now the one person who made her the happiest. Four years later, Tucker had brought her back the hilltop where they had their first date. There he got down on one knee and asked Valerie to marry him. She remembered how after hearing that she had screamed yes and jumped on him, showering him with kisses. He had made so many promises to her. He told her that he would always be there for her, that one day they would have children and that they would grow old together. And he promised that he would never leave her, no matter what. But he had lied; fate had turned against them one night, and ruined the lives of her, her fiancée, and her two best friends in the world.

_They had been driving home from the Dumpty Humpty concert that night. Danny was driving and Sam was in the passenger seat. Tucker and Valerie were in the back. It was a stormy night, they could hardly see the road. "Danny," Sam had said. "Maybe we should pull over, it's really dark."_

"_Relax Sam everything's fine, I can see where I'm going." Danny said._

"_No, no you can't see where you're going, I can't see where you're going, now come on, pull this thing over." She said loudly banging her fist on the dashboard. Thus began another one of their many fights. Tucker and Valerie snickered in the back, knowing that they would eventually make up like they did every time they fought like this. Also they knew that this time, their making up would be much different. Danny had confided in them only weeks earlier, that he was planning on proposing to Sam, and in their opinion, it was about time._

_They were still watching they're friends argue when Valerie saw it. She didn't know it then, but it was a sight that would change her life forever. A truck was coming right at them, headlights ablaze. "DANNY WATCH OUT!" She had yelled at him. He tried to swerve but it was too late. Valerie heard the sound of Sam screaming and saw Tucker look at her frightened before the white light engulfed them, and then she lost in blackness._

She remembered waking up in a cold and hard bed with her father staring down at her. She had never seen him looking so worried. The first thought that came to her was Tucker. When she asked for him, her father lowered his head and told her what happened. They had been in a car accident; the guy in the truck came out okay and called 911. They had found Valerie alive but unconscious, under Tucker's dead body; he had died saving her. When she heard Tucker was dead, it was as if she were in some sort of nightmare she knew she would never wake up from. She began to sob hysterically, calling out Tucker's name as her father did his best to comfort her. _'You lied to me tucker.' _She thought, _'you promised you would never leave me, but you did, you left me all alone, why Tucker? I need you, now more then ever.'_

As she came out of her dream-like state, she realized that she was standing on his doorstep, the doorstep she had not set foot on since the accident, it was just to painful, but now for some reason, she was there, like an invisible force had just pulled her along. Her brain told her to turn around and go home, but somehow, her finger found it way to the doorbell and she pressed it. She heard the sound of him approaching and then he opened the door. There was no turning back now.

Twenty-three year old Danny Fenton sighed as he looked through his high school yearbook. So many memories to be found in these pages, some good, some bad, some wonderful, like all the times he'd spent with her. He remembered everything about her so well. The sound of her voice, the feel of her skin, the way how every time they kissed was like magic. He had always loved her, but didn't really know it until the threat of losing her to that damn foreign exchange student gregor arrived. He remembered watching him kiss her. At that moment, he had felt something he never felt before, not even when fighting ghosts, he wanted to kill him, slowly and painfully for kissing her, that's when he realized how much he cared about her.

For some reason, he didn't think she felt the same way about him. Of course, the signs were all there, but he just couldn't see it. He flipped to a different page and smiled at the picture on the bottom right. It was a picture from the fundraiser Casper high had put together in senior year to raise money for something like new uniforms for the football team, he didn't really remember. The picture was of Paulina and Star standing in front of a car they had just finished 'washing (in reality, they had just forced a couple of freshman to do it.) but that wasn't what made the picture special to him. If you looked really closely at it, in the background you could just make out the figures of a boy and girl kissing by the wall. He smiled and thought back to that day.

_They were on their fifth car. Danny wiped the sweat off his face and watched her as she wet her rag in the bucket of water. Even now, drenched in sweat, she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He couldn't take his eyes off her. But just then, she had looked up and saw him staring. "What are you looking at?" she asked._

_Embarrassed, he quickly turned his head and continued working. An hour later they had finally finished. They stood back to admire their handywork. Danny looked at her and sighed. "Danny, what's wrong?" she asked._

"_Sam, come here." He said. He took her by the hand and led her away from the cars. They walked over to a wall far away from everyone else. "Okay, Danny, now what is it?" she asked again._

"_Sam?" he began, "There is something that I should have done a long time ago." By then, all his common sense had left him and he let his heart guide him for the first time in his life. He leaned down and kissed her on the lips, and this time, it wasn't a fake-out make-out, this was the real deal. He heard her let out a small gasp of surprise and then responded by putting her arms around his neck and kissing him back. They stood there like that for what seemed like eternity until finally breaking apart. Danny looked deep into her beautiful eyes and said, "I love you."_

_Tears began to fall from her eyes. Danny feared he had upset her, but then she said, "I love you too, I've always loved you Danny."_

_His heart swelled up with happiness like a balloon as he once again captured her lips._

All those times, every time he said 'I love you' now seemed meaningless. She was gone, the only woman he had ever loved was gone, and it was his entire fault. He had been driving the car, why hadn't he just gotten out of the way? Why hadn't he just phased the car through the truck? He was half-ghost, there were so many ways he could have prevented the accident from occurring, but he did nothing. He let his girlfriend, and his best friend in the world die. Sam and Tucker, he would never see them again. Valerie had not spoken to him for months now. She probably blamed him too. He had doomed himself to a life of emptiness. Everyday now he would awake expecting to find Sam laying there next to him, then he would remember that she wasn't there, and never would be. He wouldn't really be alive, and he wouldn't really be dead, he would just exist, another face in the crowd, waiting for an absolution that would never come.

_He awoke in a hospital bed wondering how he got there. The first thing he remembered was his mother Maddie screaming that he was awake and then hugging him hard sobbing that she thought she had lost him. Behind her he could see his father Jack and his sister Jazz smiling at him. But that was it, no Valerie, or Tucker, or Sam._

"_S-Sam" he had said once his mother had let go off him. The happy expressions on his families face melted away and were replaced with looks of sadness. Jazz came over and held his hand. "Danny" she said, "I want you to be strong when I tell you this." She stopped and sighed, "Sam…didn't survive the crash the crash Danny, I'm so sorry." _

_Danny had just stared at her. He ripped his hand out of her grasp and shook his head. "No…no that's not true, Sam can't have died, y-you just playing some kind of sick joke on me, well it's not funny Jazz." He said loudly._

"_Danny, please…" she said, a single tear falling down her face. Danny knew then that she wasn't lying, and he broke down. It didn't make him feel any better when after he calmed down, they informed him that Tucker had also died, and that Valerie was in intensive care but would probably make it, thanks to Tucker. He was happy of course that Valerie was okay, but mostly he was sad and guilty, it was his entire fault. Only Jazz and Valerie would understand why he blamed himself, he had never told his parents his secret, and didn't know if he ever would. He had visited Valerie once she was stabilized, but neither said much. Danny knew she blamed him and why wouldn't she? He had ruined both they're lives, no there was nothing left for either of them. _

As he threw the yearbook to his floor, he heard his doorbell ring. Sighing, he walked to the door, figuring it was his parents or Jazz, but when he opened the door, he saw someone he never thought he'd see again. Valerie Grey stood on his doorstep soaking wet. Without a word, he moved out of the way and let her walk in. She sat down on his couch and he sat down next to her. "Hi" she said after a few moments of awkward silence.

"Hi." He answered.

Neither one of them could really understand it. They used to be able to talk, they would hunt ghosts together, sometimes Valerie would occasionally help him pick out a present for Sam when he clueless as to what to get her. But now, it seemed like all those conversations had never happened. Like they were just strangers linked together by tragedy.

"Ummm…I hope I didn't disturb you or anything by just barging in here." Valerie said.

"No it's alright." He answered, finally, he asked the question that had been on his mind since she walked in, "How are you doing?"

She hung her head, "I've been trying, Danny, I really have, I just miss him so much it hurts." Tears began to fall from her eyes as Danny pulled her into a hug.

"I know how you feel Valerie; really, it's my entire fault they died." He said, slowly she looked up at him.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Well, I was driving the car, I could have phased us through that truck, but I didn't, Tucker and Sam are gone because of me." He admitted, "In fact, I figured that you blamed me too since I haven't seen or heard from you since the accident."

"Danny," Valerie began, "I don't blame you, and you shouldn't blame yourself either, it wasn't your fault, it was an accident, it was cruel fate, and I haven't been coming over because every time I think of you, I think of Sam and Tucker, and how much I miss them, especially…oh god Danny, he told me that he would always be with me, and that he would never leave me, but he did, he left me alone, all alone."

Again she began to cry, this time louder, she cried into Danny shirt as he tried to comfort her. Once she had calmed down enough, Danny spoke, "You want to know something?"

She looked up at him and nodded.

"For the first few months after I found out they were dead, I would search the ghost zone for them, I spoke to everyone, even some of my old enemies. They weren't their, they didn't become ghosts."

"But if they aren't ghosts, where could they be?" she asked him.

"I don't know." He answered, then he looked up out the window and sighed, "If my grandma were here, she would say that they're in heaven, she was very religious."

"Oh" Valerie said, she remembered her mother had been religious too, but she had never really been that religious herself. "You know what my mom used to tell me?" she asked him.

"What?"

"She said that god works in strange ways, I wonder if that's true." She said.

"If there is a god, I wish he'd give us a sign that things will get better for us." Danny responded, she could hear a little bit of bitterness in his voice as he spoke.

"Me too." She sighed.

Suddenly, all the lights went out, Danny and Valerie looked around confused. "What happened did a fuse blow?" she asked.

Before Danny could respond, two lights appeared in front of them, they watched in shock as the lights took the forms of two people they never thought they would see again in this life. Tucker and Sam stood before then smiling. Tucker slowly approached Valerie and Sam went to Danny. Tucker kneeled down in front of Valerie as she stared in shock "Tu-tuc" she tried to say. Slowly, Tucker brought his lips to hers. She could feel warmth and passion in his kiss even though he was a spirit; a single tear fell down her face as he pulled away and smiled. In her head, she could hear his voice, _I'm always with you. _ It said.

Sam looked down at Danny and smiled, then, like Tucker had, pulled him into a kiss, one final kiss before she had to leave him forever. As they broke the kiss her voice rang in his mind like bells, _it's time to move on. _It said. Then, Sam took his hand, and placed it on top of Valerie's. She and Tucker backed away from them, gave them one final look, and vanished.

As the lights came back on Valerie put her fingers to her lips, they still tingled from his kiss. She looked at Danny who was crying slightly and asked. "Why did they come?" she asked him, not really expecting an answer.

She watched him look down and she did to, she saw his hand was on top off hers, he glanced back up at her, "I think," he began, "They came back to say goodbye, and to help us move on." He smiled at her and she smiled back, finally understanding why she had felt the urge to come here tonight.

Three years later, Danny and Valerie were married with their parent's blessings, along with the blessings of two very special people watching over them, and only two years after that, they had twins, a boy and a girl, named Tucker and Sam. As they looked back on the choices that had made, Danny and Valerie regretted nothing, they were each other's lifelines during the most difficult part of their lives. Would promised themselves, and friends above, that they would care for and love each other as much as they had them, and they did.

One night, after putting little Tucker and Sam to bed, Danny looked at his wife and asked, "Val, if you could go back in time to that night when Tucker and Sam came, would you change anything?"

Valerie looked at him and smiled, "Danny if there's one thing that I've learned these past few years, it's this: everything happens for a reason, I was meant to go to you that night Danny, it saved both our lives. We were lost without them, and we'd forgotten that we still had each other. Tucker and Sam came to remind us of that, so to answer your question…no, I wouldn't change a thing."

Danny smiled at her and they walked together, hand in hand back to there bedroom. As they passed the kitchen window, Valerie looked up at the night sky and smiled. She knew in her heart that Tucker would always be with her, just as Sam would always be with Danny, and she was glad that they had come to deliver that message to them, that was time to move on. Like her mother always said, God works in strange ways.


End file.
